Even though things have slowed way down for me (a good thing) and I find myself
happier and way less stressed, there are times. This morning I found myself heading
out on a great journey to the fitness center and as I was driving along in morning traffic someone in front of me decided to turn without using a
turn signal.
Now I had plenty of space to slow down so there was no real issue, but I could feel
the rage coming on because this person interfered with my smooth and expert
driving skills. My “Peaceful Easy Feeling” (our Pastor uses numerous musical
references so it must be contagious) was gone and it had been replaced by “Highway
to Hell”.
As my temper was about to exceed the boiling point, something grabbed my
attention. It was the clear blue Florida sky and the beautiful sun climbing mid
morning. Something whispered to me do you really want to be that angry?
Something else came to mind – What if Jesus got that angry with me every time I
made a mistake. Do I really want to be overcome by anger? Or do I want to be
overcome with joy and happiness realizing all Christ has done; all Christ has secured
for me.
As joy began to clear my “Angry Eyes” I was able to begin to pray. I think I will use a part of that prayer for a while as part of my morning prayer or a devotional or simply a reminder
of how to approach my day...
Abba Father,
Help me this day to be of good spirit knowing the Holy Spirit is with me;
Help me to overflow with joy amazed by all Christ has done for me;
And help me to love because you first loved me...
Amen and Amen.
Grace and Peace!
So I will confess, I am not huge into social media – in fact I feel it is like the old
commercial – social media is the next best thing to being there. I am sure there are
many positive things about social media and I must admit that I do have a Twitter
account.
I find this to be a good way to journal, share thoughts and ideas all within 140
characters – short is good. Anyway, there are statistics and it is so tempting to get
drawn into a mode of saying something – I mean tweeting something and then sitting back and watching to see just
how popular that becomes. So for me it could be very easy to begin thinking a lot of my abilities and my popularity; to become proud of my tweet-worthiness...
There is this term; going viral. Urban Dictionary (which I do not necessarily
recommend without caution) defines going viral as when “an idea, concept, product,
video or other cultural meme exponentially increases in popularity.”
I suppose in the sphere of social media this is the mark of success. At the risk of
causing much laughter, my best tweets typically get between 40 and 50 views; so
yes I do keep track. Recently, however I crafted a tweet and my truly artistic efforts
went viral; over 500 views. I must also admit that I started feeling pretty good
about my abilities as a master tweeter. As I started to think I had truly arrived in the
realm of social media, something started tugging at me.
Here is my tweet:
@Scobb8Cobb
Ps 100:5
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to
all generations.
#goodnewsday
So you see, all I did was send out a Verse from the Bible. And then it hit me, it wasn’t me,
it is not my wisdom, it was not my twitter expertise. It was the Word of God...and I
knew at that very moment God was teaching me a lesson in humility. It wasn’t a
harsh lesson; it was filled with grace, which impacted me even more; just a gentle
and loving reminder.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Grace and Peace!
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
My Church is in the middle of a summer reading plan and today we read Acts 7. A
chapter so rich, so full, so emotional. Theologian William Neil says it is a “subtle
and skillful proclamation of the Gospel.”
I must admit that even though I have read this chapter on more than one occasion, I
was emotionally impacted this morning. I was just particularly struck by the last
passage; verses 54-60. I was taken aback by the anger and fury (can’t we see that
even today), I was so moved by the faith of Stephen, I was amazed at the grace and
the seeds of grace planted that day (Saul), and I was just emotionally crushed (in a
good way) to see Jesus standing at the right hand of God (not sitting)...and for the first time I began to
wonder why was he Standing?
Some say that Jesus was led into the presence of God to receive authority and power
(Daniel 7:13-14), some say he stood to welcome Stephen the first martyr, some say
he stood as Stephen’s heavenly advocate. F. F. Bruce says; “Stephen has been
confessing Christ before men, and now he sees Christ confessing his servant before
God.”
Since we are not clearly told the reason, I am sure it is a transcending, surpassing blend of all of this and even
more...but what was laid on my heart this morning, what brought a tear to my eye
was to know that Jesus was there in the midst of this suffering. Even though God’s
will had to be done Jesus was with Stephen, He loved, He cared, and what came to
my mind was a couple of verses from John 11. Verses 35 and 36: Jesus wept. Then
the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
I honestly don’t know if this is theologically correct, but it was clearly placed on my heart this
morning. That no matter the circumstance, no matter the trial, no matter the
suffering, that Jesus is there with us, that His amazing love is there for us and out of
that love, when we suffer He stands up for us; dare I say He weeps...For me it was: Oh my, see how He loves us.
Jesus, I love you too!
Grace and Peace!
Father God,
I come before you brokenhearted and troubled by the recent tragedies...a young boy
tragically killed in an accident right here in our community, young men tragically killed in
Louisiana and Minnesota and law enforcement officers tragically killed in Dallas.
Oh Father, I come confused, I come sad, I come broken. I come not even knowing exactly what
or how to pray, but I come crying out from my heart. I pray for understanding and wisdom to
prevail, I pray for Gospel transformation and change in us all, I pray for ideas, solutions and
paths forward. I pray for action rather than the divided inaction of our day, I pray for the
ability as a nation to discuss these tragedies in a way that does not divide, but moves forward, I
pray for the impacted families and communities, for your comfort and healing and peace. I
pray that we as a church will mourn with those mourning and weep with those weeping. I
pray for revival and for this nation to collectively turn to you. I pray that we all remember that
we are one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Mostly I pray for love
because without love we are nothing.
I pray as you tell us in Romans; that our love would be sincere, that we would hate what is evil,
that we would cling to what is good. That we would be devoted to one another in love and that
we would honor others above ourselves, that we would never be lacking in zeal, but that we
would always keep our spiritual passions, that we would serve the Lord. That we would be
joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer...that we would share with those in need
and practice hospitality. That we would bless those that persecute us, that we would rejoice
with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, that we would live in harmony with one
another, that we would not be proud and that we would be willing to associate with all kinds of
people and never be conceited.
And in addition to all this, I pray that this you help us see and know and feel your grace and
love and tender mercies; to feel your very presence with us. Help us know and trust and rest
in you, help us to know that our all powerful God is upon his throne and will make all things
new, help us to truly rejoice, help us to be forever thankful for the one true hope that is Christ
and help us as a people, as believers to always sing praises to our almighty, loving, tender,
merciful, and sovereign God.
Abba Father, we love you and pray these many things in the most beautiful and loving name of
Jesus Christ – Amen and Amen!
Grace and Peace!
